<p>to a more selective school where you won't?</p>
<p>Scenario:</p>
<p>Student with high grades has to option of going to a local college. Not bad, but pretty small...but he/she would get more money because they stand out. </p>
<p>Other scenario:</p>
<p>Student applies to a selective school with more competitors...</p>
<p>The answer is not simple. Do you need the money? Do you qualify for financial aid or are you going to have to depend or merit money? Does the local college have the funds to provide good scholarships? </p>
<p>My son could have gone to a number of local colleges where, yes, he would have stood out more, but many of them do not provide that much in merit money. He goes to a state school where he was eligible for some nice merit scholarships. It was less expensive to send him there than to send him locally if he were not commuting. If we had qualified for financial aid, there would have likely been a number of schools that would have given him more than the school where he is going AND the local schools, depending on the % of need such colleges guarantee and what our need would have been. You will read of many kids on this site that did better in terms of cost in going away to a private college that is selective and has a high sticker price than in going to state and local schools that do not meet a large % of need.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about the money part yet because I'm not a senior yet, but I want to know if that choice ever comes.</p>
<p>I don't think money will be too big of a problem, because my grades are good and my family qualifies for aid. But it's just the problem of how much aid...</p>
<p>I could maybe get a full scholarship at a small women's college, and have to pay more at a well known college.</p>